A report issued Tuesday by the Justice Department's inspector general found excessive spending on food and beverages in an audit of 10 department conferences.

snip...

At another conference, the department's Office on Violence Against Women spent $65 per person at a lunch for 65 people. Coffee cost more than $1 an ounce. A snack break at the same conference cost $32 per person for Cracker Jack, popcorn and candy bars.

I'm an Indy, always have been, but almost always vote with the Dems(never for the republicans). I worked for him, donated to him, and voted for him, cried tears of joy and relief when he won. I thought our long national nightmare was over. Silly me!

I don't think I'm an atypical Indy, either. I'm a liberal, female, lower end middle class senior citizen,and retired military. I'm not a one issue voter, but I am my only means of economic support, so needless to say, the economy is at the top of my list.

Obama has steadily eroded my belief in him, breaking one campaign promise after another. I no longer trust anything he says and I have no idea what he actually believes in, other than the absolute failure that is the free market.

Quite honestly, at my age,I cannot wait for him to figure out his "North Star". He needs to lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way!

in reference to President Obama tonight on Al Sharpton's program (MSNBC), do yourself a favor and read this:

During the 2008 presidential race Buchanan wrote “A Brief for Whitey,” in which he praised how good America in general, and whites in particular, have been to blacks, and that slavery led to a very good place for blacks in America.

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

…

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

I am a 65 year old white woman who grew up in the South. I know a dog whistle when I hear one. Pat is a bigoted, racist pos (imo), and he knew exactally what he was saying. It was not a slip of the lip.

in reference to President Obama tonight on Al Sharpton's program (MSNBC), do yourself a favor and read this:

During the 2008 presidential race Buchanan wrote “A Brief for Whitey,” in which he praised how good America in general, and whites in particular, have been to blacks, and that slavery led to a very good place for blacks in America.

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

…

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

I am a 65 year old white woman who grew up in the South. I know a dog whistle when I hear one. Pat is a bigoted, racist pos (imo), and he knew exactally what he was saying. It was not a slip of the lip.

Please let me introduce myself. I am a 65 year old white female, registere Independent, and loyal MSNBC viewer; however, my viewing habits are about to change, thanks to Pat Buchanan. I have had it with his bigoted, racist attitude and remarks. I have also had it with the fact hat he as remained employed at MSNBC despite his deplorable track record.

Tonight he crossed my line in the sand. Having grown up in the South during the '50's and '60's, I KNOW a racist dog whistle when I hear one. It is more than egregious that he would refer to the first black President of the United States as "boy".

How much more disparaging and demeaning does he have to be before he is fired. Would showing up in a white hood and a sheet do it? Is that what it will take before MSNBC wakes up to how offensive he is? How many viewers do you have to lose? How much revenue?

Bottom line: I love ed Schultz, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Rachel Maddow, but I, and many others will walk if Buchanan remains in your employ one more week. Give him his severance pay and bid him farewell or say goood-bye to your viewers. I stayed when you let Keith go, I stayed when you let Cenk go, but if Buchanan is there next wee, spewing his racist drivel, I'll boycott you and your sponsors, and your sponsers will know exactly why.

Please do yourselves and your viewers a a favor, and do the right thing.

I would never advocate for a Civil War. Those of us who grew up in and live in the South understand all too well the horrors of Civil War, and IMO, this area still hasn't fully recovered from that atrocity(and probably never will). In fact, I'd go so far to say that this nation has never fully recovered.

As a genealogical researcher, I'm reminded on a daily basis of the destruction Civil War causes. All of my paternal ancestors came from areas in Va. where Courthouses and their records were burned, ergo I have gaping holes in the family history that I will probably never be able to fill.

I have ancestors who fought on both sides of the war. All of them suffered, physically, emotionally, and financially. Two paternal great grandfathers and a great uncle(all Confederates) were wounded. My paternal great grandfather (Union) almost died from Typhoid Fever while on active duty and was too sick to attend the funerals of his 2 small sons and FIL, who all died within a week of each other from the Bloody Flux. The little boys died on the same day. My great grandmother had to bury her children and her father alone, all the time worrying about whether he husband would live to return home. In addition, she had several other small children, a new baby to care for, and a farm to run. Believe me, I'd be the last person on earth to advocate for war, Civil or otherwise.

What does concern me is that Civil Wars occur when people see no other alternative. Do I think we're headed for another Civil War. Yes, unfortunately, I do, unless we change the course we're on, and fast.

Washington is broken, the country is going down the toilet, people are suffering and don't believe the govt is doing anything to help them. In fact,I would agrue that a growing number of folks on both sides of the political isle believe that the govt is hurting them. Poverty is increasing, the infrastructure is crumbling, and the natives are getting very, very restless. We need to fix this mess stat. We're running out of time.

I grew up in the Presbyterian Church, and it and my parents (Methodists) instilled a great sense of values in me, but then, so did the Girl Scouts and public schools I attended.

The problem for me was that I grew up and older, I could no longer bring myself to believe in doctrine and dogma. I gave up on organized religion in favor of spirituality, belief in a specific god in favor of a more encompassing secular humanism/Universal consciousness/reverence for Mother Earth.

For me, dropping the attempts at pleasing some authoritarian god figure was very liberating. I like the the Golden Rule, and believe it transcends everything else. I also like the idea of treating others well with no expectation of some type of eternal reward, but just because it's the right thing (for me) to do. When I do something good for someone else, I no longer have to justify my motivation. I also no longer feel "less than" because there was no way I could ever measure up to the impossible standards dictated by religion.

Am I glad I grew up in a church? Yes and no. There were many rewards, but there were also quite a few drawbacks, and lots of conflicts about what I "should" believe and what I actually do believe.

I think religions and their attending beliefs are great sources of good, but also great sources of evil (when misused). I have a live and let live attitude until it comes to Zealots,who want to impose their beliefs on everyone else. There is, imo, no difference between Zealots, regardless of sect/demonination/etc. They are all authoritarian control freaks, and that's where I draw my line in the sand.

I had 3 great grandfathers and a great uncle who served in that war. My maternal g.grandfather fought for the Union, my father's people fought for the Confederacy. All of them lived in Virginia, but my maternal g.grandfather lived in Marshall Co, which became part of West Virginia when they seceeded from Virginia.

It was a time of great sacrifice and sorrow on both sides. Both of my paternal g. grandfather's were wounded, one of them at the battle of Cold Harbor.

My maternal g. grandfather wasn't wounded, but almost died from Typhoid fever, and was unable to get home to bury his two small sons and father-in-law who all died from bloody dysentery. The children both died on the same day, their grandfather a week later. I often wonder how my great grandmother survived the grief she must have felt.

I have the letters my great grandparents wrote to each other throughout the war, and they range from the mundane (are the cows producing?, did you harvest the wheat?, etc, to the heartbreaking news about the loss of the children and their maternal grandfather). My g.grandfather survived the war, but was killed at a neighbor's barn raising when a log crushed him to death.

(Charleston, SC): People in the tightknit Academic Magnet High School-School of the Arts community were pulling together Thursday, coping with the trauma of a student who was engulfed in flames at the front entrance, a horrific spectacle witnessed by dozens.

Now they must deal with learning that the student has died, and that he set himself on fire in an apparent suicide.

North Charleston police said earlier in the day that the student had poured an accelerant on his clothing and ignited the fire himself. The announcement confirmed what witnesses already knew and many people suspected.

Charleston County authorities released a 911 recording of the incident, which revealed that students used a fire extinguisher to douse their burning classmate as teachers then wrapped him with a blanket until authorities arrived.

Important Notices: By registering on this website,
visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules
page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums and
Journals are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily
represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.